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The pleasant responsibility of writing about one of our two overwhelming enthusiasms was accepted by us only after consultation with friends in the dancing profession.

“A book of technical instruction is not the idea,” we started to explain.

“No,” they concurred, “that would not be an undertaking for painters. Only an experienced master of dancing should write such a book, and he would not be likely to, because he would know that execution is taught only by personal criticism of a pupil’s work.”

We hastened to specify that the proposal involved no more—and no less—than an effort to share our enthusiasm with others. Appreciation of an art requires no faculties not included in the normal human equipment; more than anything else it is a matter of knowing what to look for. When a layman comes to a painter asking what it is that people find so enjoyable in classic mural decoration, the answer is not difficult. A few hours in an art museum, with some direction of his attention to line as a vehicle of beauty, acquaint him with the idea of beauty as a self-sufficient object; and he goes on his way rejoicing in the possession of a lasting process of making happiness for himself.

Great dancing, to us, always had been a gratification of the same senses that are addressed by decoration. The same suggestions, therefore, that convey the power to enjoy classic mural painting, would enable us to communicate our satisfaction in the dance. But the question arose, was our point of view on dancing in accord with its real intent, and that of its performers and composers?

Madame Cavallazi disposed of the doubt at one stroke. “The ballet,” she said, “is mural decoration.”

Sanctioned by such authority, we have followed the lines above indicated, treating the dance from the standpoint of pure optical beauty. Its enjoyment, experience proves, is distinctly sharpened by acquaintance with choreographic technique. One not fairly familiar with the resources of the art, though he be conscious that the dance before his eyes is progressing, like music, in conformity with an artistic argument, is confused by the speed and seeming intricacy of steps. As a result he loses the greater part of the beauty of the succession of pictures unfolded before him. Whereas the ability to grasp the theme of a composition, and then to follow its elaboration through a vocabulary of already familiar steps, is in effect to quicken the vision. Instead of being harassed by a sensation of scrambling to keep up with the argument, the spectator finds himself with abundant time to luxuriate in every movement, every posture. And, like a connoisseur of any other art, he sees a thousand beauties unnoticed by the untrained.

To the end of furnishing the needed acquaintance with the alphabet of the art, the book includes a chapter of explanation of the salient steps of the ballet. These steps, with superficial variations and additions, form the basis also of all natural or “character” dances that can lay claim to any consideration as interpretative art. It is convenient to learn the theories of them as accepted by the great ballet academies, since those institutions alone have defined them clearly, and brought to perfection the ideals for their execution. Incidentally the school of the ballet is made the subject of considerable attention. In the first place, after getting a grasp of its ideals and intent, any one will catch the sentiment of a folk-dance in a moment. Moreover, it is in itself an important institution. During its long history it has undergone several periods of retirement from public attention, the most recent beginning about sixty years ago. From this eclipse it has already returned to the delighted gaze of Europe; as always after its absences, so far evolved beyond the standards within the memory of living men that posterity seems to have been robbed of the chance of discovering anything further. The renaissance is moving westward from St. Petersburg; London is wholly under its influence; America has felt a touch of it.

American love of animated beauty and delight in skill predestine us to be a race of ardent enthusiasts over the dance. Among us, however, there are many who have never accepted it as an art worthy of serious attention. As a gentle answer to that point of view, a historical résumé is included, wherein statesmen, philosophers and monarchs show the high respect in which the art has been held, save in occasional lapses, in all periods of civilised history.

Direct practical instruction is furnished on the subject of present-day ballroom dancing, to the extent of clear and exact directions for the performance of steps now fashionable in Europe and America. The chapter was prepared under the careful supervision of Mr. John Murray Anderson.

Neither in word nor picture does the book contain any statement not based upon the authors’ personal knowledge, or choreographic writings of unquestioned authority, or the word of dancers or ballet-masters of the utmost reliability. To these artists and to certain managers we are greatly indebted. Much of the matter has never before been printed in English; a considerable portion of it has here its first publication in any language. The illustrations of dances of modern times are made from artists in the very front rank of their respective lines. If the new material so contributed to choreographic literature proves, according to the belief of dancers who have read the manuscript, to be of value to producers, the authors will experience the gratification that comes of having been of service. But their efforts will be more directly repaid if the influence of the book hastens by a day that insistence upon a high choreographic ideal in America, and that unification of dance-lovers which must exist in order that worthy productions may be reasonably insured of recognition in proportion to their quality.

Finally, a word of thanks to those whose aid has made this book possible. Though busy, as successful people always are, they have given time and thought unsparingly to the effort, in co-operation with the authors, to make this a substantial addition to the layman’s understanding of the dancing art.

T. K. and M. W. K.

New York, November, 1913.